Saturday, January 22, 2011

Led by a pair of top-ten finishes on the infield by freshmen Kelley Freeman (Valparaiso, Ind./Chesterton) and Sarah Drozdowski (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park), the Valparaiso women's track and field team competed Saturday at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich., hosted by the University of Michigan.

Freeman cleared 10'6” in the pole vault Saturday to register Valpo's best placement on the day, finishing in a tie for ninth place.  The freshman came up just four inches shy of her mark from last week in the event.

Meanwhile, Drozdowski registered a toss of 38'9” in the shot put to place tenth in the event.  She posted her best effort of her young career in the event with a mark that ranks as sixth-best in Valpo history.  Drozdowski also recorded a 15th-place showing in the weight throw, recording a distance of 43'7”.

On the track, freshman Grace Shemwell (Clinton, Iowa/Clinton) led the way for the Crusaders with an 11th-place finish in the 800m run.  Shemwell crossed the line in 2:30.88, just one one-hundredth of a second away from a top-ten placement.

Valparaiso returns to action next weekend at the Tadd Metzger Invitational in Kenosha, Wis.  Action from Carthage College begins at 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 28.